For all the hurt Dana White’s poaching caused – taking away two of his star fighters, Jai Opetaia and Conor Benn, to Zuffa – Eddie Hearn offered a measured take on Edgar Berlanga and Richardson Hitchins‘ move. The boxing landscape has taken notice as the super middleweight contender and the IBF 140-pound titlist made a major career decision by joining White’s promotion.
“I don’t want to say things that people think I’m speaking badly about,” he said. “But I think it’s generally like if you look at the options they had, I mean, neither guy has been under contract to us for over a year now. We withdrew any interest in them a couple of months ago.”
Breaking down Edgar Berlanga‘s situation specifically, Hearn suggested the move could make sense from a financial standpoint. With the chances of winning a world championship appearing limited at this stage, the decision could benefit him economically, he added. The case with Hitchins, however, presents a different picture.
“You don’t think he had a lot of options….Top Rank wasn’t interested,” Hearn revealed. “Golden Boy had a chat with him. We withdrew our offer like a month or so ago because of, like, when he said what he said after the Kambosos fight.”
He outlined how negotiations and prior interactions shaped their stance.
“In my head, I’m not working with him again, but we had some chats; we fell out with Keith Connelly, and I said, “I’m just not going to work with Keith Connelly fighters.” So I said I’m sorry I can’t work with you on Richardson. So Matchroom wasn’t an option. Top Rank wasn’t an option. Golden Boy wasn’t really an option.”
With those options effectively off the table, Hitchins’ move gains additional context, especially considering his standing and ambitions in the sport.
Eddie Hearn flags concerns over Hitchins’ move to Zuffa
He had previously spoken about unifying the 140-pound division, which would have set up potential matchups against reigning titleholders like Gary Antuanne Russell, Dalton Smith, or even Shakur Stevenson. That raises a key question: how will those goals translate under Zuffa?
Complicating matters further, Hitchins had a title defense scheduled against Oscar Duarte on the Ryan Garcia–Mario Barrios card ahead of his move. However, he withdrew from the fight at the last moment, citing illness.
That decision wasn’t well received. His transition to Zuffa, where he may compete for an in-house title, most likely at 147 pounds, since the promotion does not recognize “in-between” weight classes like light welterweight, adds another layer of scrutiny to his trajectory.
Even with that in mind, questions remain if White and his team move forward with Hitchins’ title defense against Duarte.
“But haven’t they just said that they’re not acknowledging world championship belts?” Hearn asked. “So, all of a sudden, they’ve gone and done all these press conferences saying Zuffa did not acknowledge World Championship belts. Now they’re begging the IBF to come back because they’re going to have to say to the IBF, “Oh yeah, we’re going to do Hitchens against Duarte.” So I don’t know.”
In that scenario, Duarte’s position naturally draws sympathy, Hearn noted.
Returning to the broader picture, both Berlanga and Hitchins have sounded upbeat and positive about joining Zuffa. Still, given recent developments involving Jai Opetaia and Conor Benn, it may be premature to draw firm conclusions, as more updates are likely to unfold in the coming weeks.
